In Pictures: The Complex Legacy of Soviet Architecture

A new book surveys buildings in Central Asia and documents their distinctive styles

In the latter half of the 20th century, striking examples of socialist architecture were erected across Central Asia, in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. While this unique style of architecture, now described as Soviet modernism, aimed to promote integration, modernization and social control, in practice distinct trends emerged. Soviet Asia, a new book published by FUEL, documents some of this architectural variety with photographs of buildings constructed between 1960–80.

Formerly centres for daily life, bazaars were standardized and modernized in the Soviet era. However, some customs were maintained: fruit and vegetables on sale in the markets were grown, in part, by members of the community in their own gardens.

Residential buildings, c.1980, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2019

In the 1960s, residential buildings tended to be limited to five stories. However, by the final decades of the Soviet Union buidlings became taller, cramming more people into identically-planned houses.

Hotel Khodzhent, c.1970, Chkalovsk, Tajikistan, 2019

While the legacy of Soviet modernism is often remembered as one of standardized industrial architecture, these images show the diversity of individual projects and the style’s more complex heritage.